Dentists and dental hygienists frequently use hand tools to clean and repair teeth. For example, scalers and curettes are used to scrape away soft or small tartar deposits on teeth, while probes and explorers are used to determine the presence of decay on tooth enamel. Many of these tools have curved ends to facilitate reaching around and between teeth, and may be available in both right-handed and left-handed configurations to permit use in all areas of a patient's mouth.
The tips of dental tools must be sharpened periodically to maintain optimum performance. Moreover, when a tip is broken or worn out the tip must be replaced. Current dental practice is that dental hand tools are sent to a professional service lab to sharpen or repair a tip, leading to inconvenience and increased cost to the office.
Dental instruments with replaceable tips are known to the art, but the performance of such tools has not been satisfactory. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0077148 to Luoto discloses a dental hand instrument comprising a handle, a detachable instrument head/tip, a fastening element for connecting the head/tip to the handle, and a tightening element that cooperates with the fastening element to secure the head/tip to the handle. One disadvantage of the Luoto device is that both right-handed and left-handed tips can be installed at either end of the instrument without the difference being readily observable to the casual observer. Thus, it is possible for an instrument to have two right-handed tips, or two left-handed tips, or one right-handed tip and one left-handed tip without the difference being noticeable by casual observation.
Another disadvantage of the Luoto device is that the connection between the handle and the detachable head/tip may not secure the tip in a manner effective to avoid unwanted movement of the tip relative to the handle. This causes the tip movement not to be as precise as is desired by many dental professionals.
A need currently exists for improved dental tools with tips that can be replaced at the dental office when a new or sharper tip is desired. The present invention addresses that need.